The ‘North-East’ Label: Need for a Heritage Education Policy

The term ‘heritage’ invigorates an idea of stewardship among its recipients (Pocock, Historic Environment 19:3–8, 2006). This sense of stewardship has instigated policy-makers of National Education Policy 2020 incorporate culture and heritage as necessary requirements for holistic education of students (NEP, 2020). Although legislations aimed at safeguarding the cultural heritage of India have been instrumental in creating an awareness about the same, they have seldom enunciated the diversity of the inherited cultural identity. As a result, cultural heritage of India has been perceived as a homogenous domain, more so in case of the eight states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The label of ‘North-East India’ confirms this fact—these states are perceived collectively as a ‘region’, overlooking their distinctive cultural heritage and identity. An effective method to deconstruct this homogenous perception is through promoting their rich cultural heritage among the youth—the future citizens of the country. Thus, this paper proposes formulation of a Heritage Education Policy which would encourage respect, sensitivity and acceptance among students towards diverse heritage of the country, helping these states break out of the ‘North-East’ label and experience cultural integration while asserting their individuality through de-homogenizing their cultural heritage in front of the national lens.